Tech Demo Guy

Often when I attend a presentation I have ideas about constructive feedback to give to the presenter. While I used to deliver my feedback and criticisms in a very direct and honest way, hoping that they would be taken at face value, I often found that presenters with disheartened with my feedback. Over time I learned a method to deliver feedback in a way that it would help the presenter in the future and learned how to take feedback better myself.

In their excellent book “Switch“, Chip and Dan Heath point out a studies that have shown that our perception and memories of “bad” events are much stronger (and longer-lasting) than “good” events (see the end of Chapter 2 in the book). People have a very strong tendency to focus on the negative, and this is very much true for feedback and criticisms they receive.

My current approach to giving feedback takes this phenomenon into account. When I give feedback on presentations I recognize that even experienced presenters are really exposing themselves when they stand up and talk in front of a group. I have been presenting professionally for many years now and I still get just a little nervous before a presentation and find myself hungry to know whether the audience approved afterwards. Feedback on presentations hits people where they are very vulnerable regardless of how confident they may be during a presentation.

Keeping that in mind I give feedback that is very specific and I balance every criticism with at least 3 positive observations. The specificity is important because it signals to the receiver that you were really paying attention. The 3:1 ratio helps balance the scales of our tendency to focus on the negative. The place where it is easy to make is mistake is being too general in your positive feedback. Imagine I came up to you after a presentation and said:

Wow, that was really a great presentation! I really like your style and you seemed very comfortable in front of the audience. I did notice that you made a mistake on our current number of customers: it should be 195 not 155. I did really like the flow of your demonstration overall!

That has three positives with one negative mixed in. But notice how general the positive comments are when compared with the negative? That signals that the one piece of feedback you want the receiver to focus on is the negative and the rest are just pats on the back to cheer them up. What if you heard this feedback instead:

Great presentation! The way you opened up with a story really grabbed their attention and I really liked how it related to what they read in this morning’s paper. The flow of the demo was really nice, particularly around how you compared it with their current experience and showed just how much better their life would be in the future. I noticed that you had 155 customers listed on that one slide, I think the number is closer to 195. I think that your style of being both confident and humble really made a connection, particularly with the IT manager who I saw you talking with at the break.

By softening the one criticism and being very specific in the positives you can take the edge off quite a bit. The reality is that all but the most clueless presenters are going to still focus on the negative, so there is no need to emphasize it. The reason why this approach is so important is that confidence in front of an audience is one of the key factors to success in a presentation, so you don’t want to undermine that for the presenter in their next presentation. You also want to be sure that they keep doing the things that are working (the positives) rather than just focusing on fixing the things that are not.

When it comes to receiving information I have also changed my approach over time. One of the challenges if you are a successful Sales Engineer is that sales reps may end up seeing you as a valuable resource that they need to compete with other reps for. This may not be true in your company, but I have certainly experienced it in the past. Because of this they may not be willing to give you honest, direct feedback on your presentations because they are concerned about whether you will want to work with them on more deals. Over time you may just get congratulations and kudos for every presentation, whether you felt you did a good job or not. We all need feedback to improve and that goes for even the most experienced and capable presenters.

To make sure that I get the real story from people in the audience I just ask them “Is there anything I should do differently the next time?” or “Is there anything that you think I could have changed in the presentation?”. Then, when they answer I make sure NOT to try to justify why I did it the way did, I just listen to the feedback and make sure I clarify what they are saying. So if I heard this feedback:

“Well, I am not sure if I really liked the analogy you used at the beginning of the presentation”

I would resist launching into my justification or explanation of why the analogy really should have made sense and instead ask what about it did not line up. So instead of responding with:

“Yeah, but I think the point I was trying to make really did fit with that analogy for this prospect…”

I would instead try to clarify exactly what they meant:

“What about the analogy broke down? Would the analogy work in other situations or does it just not make sense at all? Are there any other ways I could explain that topic?”

If you actively seek out feedback, you need to make sure to really take it rather than becoming defensive if you don’t agree.

dsohigian Demo Skills, Demo Tips, Learning

Like many people with a technical background, I have lots of links in my resume to companies I have worked for and projects I have completed. When I send out a resume I would like to know whether people click on the links in the resume, but normally I can only get stats for sites I control (using Google Analytics Campaign Tracking). By using a URL shortening service I can embed links that are specific to the resume that I sent, and I can track every click on that link from that specific resume. The only problem here is that creating those links is time consuming, especially if you send out lots of resumes and/or have lots of links in your resume.

I created a macro that can automatically generate trackable links with one click. You need to be somewhat technical to use this macro, and I have only tested it in Word 2007 (please leave comments on whether it works for you in other versions). The macro is simple: it contacts a URL shortening service (either Cligs or Bitly at your option) and looks through all the links in your resume and shortens them using your account (so that you can track them).

You will need three things before you can use this VBA code:

1. A copy of your resume with standard hyperlinks in Microsoft Word
2. An account at either Cligs or Bitly
3. An API Key for Cligs or Bitly

The macro also includes a place for you to enter Google Analytics campaign tracking which will help keep stats for sites you control (if you use Google Analytics).

The parameters at the top of the macro are things you need to set up before running the macro on a document. If you are using Bitly, then enter your Login and APIKey in the variables at the top. If you are using Cligs, enter your APIKey in that variable (leave the other API blank). If you are going to use Google Campaign tracking, then enter in those variables (leave them all blank otherwise).

If you are comfortable in VBA programming you can just create a new macro attached to your resume and paste the code below. You can also download a sample Word 2007 document with the macro already built in. Either way you will need to run the macro from your Word document once you have the variables set up. Note: It’s a good idea to delete the macro from the document once you have run it. Otherwise people opening the document will get a macro security warning when they open the document.

One other note: using a URL shortening service for your links could result in non-operative links if the URL shortening service shuts down (which happened to cligs before they were acquired). So use at your own risk. I also might be willing to add other URL shortening services that might be more reliable (and have an API).

Here is a short (4 min) screencast of how to use the macro. In the example I use Cligs, but the same process applies for using Bitly. Please comment with any questions.

Sub URLShortener()
'
' URL shortener/tracker
' Created by Dave Sohigian http://dave.sohigian.com 1/5/2010
' For more information go to http://www.techdemoguy.com/?p=192
' License: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
'

    'Variables you should enter. Enter either BitlyLogin AND BitlyAPIKey
    'OR CligsApiKey, depending on which service you will use.
    'If you want to track the Google Campaign, then enter those three
    'variables. Otherwise leave the Google variables blank

    BitlyLogin = ""
    BitlyApiKey = ""
    CligsApiKey = ""
    GoogleCampaign = ""
    GoogleMedium = ""
    GoogleSource = ""
 
    If (GoogleCampaign <> "") Then
        GoogleQueryString = "?utm_source=" & GoogleSource & "%26utm_medium=" _
        & GoogleMedium & "%26utm_content=1%26utm_campaign=" & GoogleCampaign
    Else
        GoogleQueryString = ""
    End If
 
    'Loop through all of the hyperlinks and shorten the URLs

    For i = 1 To ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Count
        ApiUrl = ""
        LinkText = ""
        ' select the next hyperlink
        ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks(i).Range.Select
        ' store the name of the hyperlink
        LinkText = Selection.Range.Text
        ' store the url of the hyperlink
        LinkUrl = ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks(i).Address
 
        ' Make sure it is not a bit.ly or cligs url (would error out)
        If (Left(LinkUrl, 13) <> "http://bit.ly") And (Left(LinkUrl, 13) <> "http://cli.gs") Then
          ' Set up the API object
          Set ObjHttp = CreateObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP")
 
          If (BitlyApiKey <> "") Then
            ' Create the API URL for Bitly
            ApiUrl = "http://api.bit.ly/shorten?version=2.0.1&login=" _
            & BitlyLogin & "&apiKey=" & BitlyApiKey & "&history=1&format=text&longUrl=" _
            & LinkUrl & GoogleQueryString
          ElseIf (CligsApiKey <> "") Then
            ' Create the API URL for Cligs
            ApiUrl = "http://cli.gs/api/v1/cligs/create?key=" & CligsApiKey _
            & "&appid=ResumeStats" & "&url=" & LinkUrl & GoogleQueryString
          End If
 
          If (ApiUrl <> "") Then
            ' Setup the call to the REST API
            ObjHttp.Open "GET", ApiUrl, False         ' False indicates the call is synchronous - wait for URL Result
            ' Send the request
            ObjHttp.send
 
            ' Get our results (the shortened URL) if the response was okay
            If (ObjHttp.StatusText = "OK") Then
                StrResult = ObjHttp.responseText
            Else
            'Otherwise just keep the original URL
                StrResult = LinkUrl
            End If
 
          Else
            StrResult = LinkUrl
          End If
 
          ' Update the Hyperlink in the document with the shortened URL
           If (LinkText <> "") Then
            'If it is a text link, then keep the Link Text
            ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, Address:= _
              StrResult, SubAddress:="", ScreenTip:=LinkUrl, TextToDisplay:=LinkText
          Else
            'Otherwise don't change the Link Text (if it is a linked image it will have "  " as the selection text)
            ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, Address:= _
              StrResult, ScreenTip:=LinkUrl
          End If
        End If
 
    Next i
 
End Sub

dsohigian Learning, Software Tips

Unlearing is an important concept for anyone trying to take on new tasks. Although I have not seen this name put on it specifically the concept is the challenge presented by learning a new task is really about UNLEARNING old patterns rather than learning new ones.

In his book, On Intelligence, Jeff Hawkins (inventor of the PalmPilot and Treo) talks extensively about how our brain stores patterns. According to his model these patterns are stored at various levels in the neocortex. The lowest level in the hierarchy stores simple patterns while the higher levels have the capability to see the big picture. An example he gives in the book has to do with reading. When you are first learning to read you start to recognize individual letters. Eventually you can recognize whole words made of these letters (once you learn the word and you no longer need to actually read each letter, you just see the whole word). And once you are truly comfortable with reading you will start to see entire sentences. For example, you may notice that when you are reading a book to a child that you change or leave out certain words. Your brain is recognizing the meaning of the sentence and does not worry too much about each individual word (much less each letter).

These patterns are built up over time in the wiring of the brain. Each time you successfully use (or encounter) a pattern, the wiring for recognizing (or using) that pattern is further cemented in the brain. For the low level patterns that you encounter all the time (letters, words, faces, etc..) you have very strong wiring indeed. Marcus Buckingham in “Now, Discover Your Strengths” talks about how your brains build up these connections (wiring) until about the age of 16 and then we start to rapidly lose about half of those connections over the next few years. Buckingham uses this information to back up his theory that we need to focus on our strengths – the wiring that remains after we lose all that extraneous stuff.

It also follows that the highest levels of the neocortex are also the ones that most under conscious control. The lower levels in the hierarchy just happen they are firmly ingrained habits that we don’t even notice much of the time. This is a good thing because many complex tasks would be nearly impossible if we were conscious of all underlying unconscious control required. If I consider how to move each of my fingers while I am typing this, I will have a heck of a time finishing another word.

That is the challenge presented when you try to unlearn a way of doing something. You are trying to change those patterns in the brain that you have relied on for many years. Changing the wiring for these patterns that your brain so efficiently ignores is very difficult – Buckingham would say it is not worth pursuing. I agree to a certain extent, but when you do need to learn a new pattern (which may mean unlearning an old one that has been “successful” so far) there is a strategy that I have found effective.

The strategy relies on what I have learned through my Alexander Technique lessons. Alexander Technique is about gaining “conscious control” of the self. But I have experienced it as a process of “unwiring” the habitual patterns developed over time. Alexander Technique undoes deeply ingrained patterns (such as our posture) by bringing conscious attention to it, releasing the old pattern and rebuilding a new one. It is an arduous process and takes dedication to see progress. When it comes to how you “use” yourself I think it is actually worthwhile to do this unlearning. But I also agree with Buckingham that putting in this kind of effort to see marginal improvement in an area where you never will truly excel.

dsohigian Learning

If you are a Unix geek you probably know all about this, but since I am a Windows guy, I find this stuff valuable. My favorite Unix command the “tail” comman which allows you to see the last few lines of a text file. This may not seem very useful at first, but if you turn on a particular switch (“-f” for “follow”) it will tail the last portion of a file even it is updated. This is particularly useful for watching log files (such as the app server log or an error log). The full command might look like this:

C:appservLOGS>tail -f -10 appsrv_0614.log

This command will tail the last 10 lines of the specified log file – allowing you to view it dynamically as it is updated. This is useful when you have debugging turned up – this way you can see what is going on with the application in real time.

dsohigian Applications, Learning, Software Tips

In the book “In the Bubble“, John Thackara observes:

Ivan Illich discovered that in the 1930s, nine out of ten words that a man had heard when he reached the age of twenty were words spoken to him directly – one to one, or as a member of a crowd – by somebody whom he could touch and feel and smell. By the 1970s, that proportion had been reversed: About 9 out of ten words heard in a day were spoken through a loudspeaker. “Computers are doing to communication what fences did to pastures and cars did to streets,” Illich said in 1982. For Illich, there was a huge difference between a colloquial tongue – what people say to each other in a context, with meaning and a language uttered by people into microphones.

I think this the last part of this passage is the most revealing – the nature of what people say when they are face to face vs. what they say when speaking into a microphone. The same applies to emails (particularly one to many emails) and blogs. I often hear about how blogs promote people’s “voice”, but what is the quality of that voice when it is directed at a mass audience? Keep this in mind when you are doing a remote demonstration: the medium is the message.

dsohigian Learning remote, technology

I was thinking I would put together a list of good resources for Sales Engineer/Consultants, but Darrin Mourer at “The Sales Engineer” has already done a fine job! Check out his list of blogs, books and other resources at his SE Resources page. Nice work, Darrin!

dsohigian Learning sales consulting, sales engineering